Wikipedia:Main Page history/2019 May 22

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From today's featured article

Cortinarius violaceus, the violet webcap, is a fungus found predominantly in conifer forests in North America and deciduous forests in Europe. The fruit bodies are dark purple mushrooms with caps up to 15 cm (6 in) across, sporting gills underneath. The stalk measures 6 to 12 centimetres (2 ¹⁄₃ to 4 ²⁄₃ in) by 1 to 2 centimetres (³⁄₈ to ³⁄₄ in), sometimes with a thicker base. The dark flesh has a smell reminiscent of cedar wood. Though they are edible, the mushrooms' appearance is more distinctive than their taste. The species forms symbiotic (mycorrhizal) relationships with the roots of various plants. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753, and has undergone several name changes. Other populations once identified as C. violaceus or close to that species have now been described as new and separate species, such as C. palatinus, C. neotropicus, C. altissimus, C. kioloensis and C. hallowellensis. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

National liberation skirt

... that approximately 4,000 handmade personalised patchwork skirts have been registered as official national liberation skirts (example pictured) in the Netherlands?
... that Alfred Kirchner directed the world premiere of Martin Walser's play Ein Kinderspiel in 1971, and the U.S. premiere of Henze's We Come to the River at the Santa Fe Opera in 1984?
... that the small crustacean Pseudamphithoides incurvaria builds itself a home out of forded sea tumbleweed, a brown seaweed that is distasteful to fish?
... that film pioneers Alice Guy-Blaché, Georges Méliès, and Charlie Chaplin all made films about women's suffrage?
... that the German architect Konrad Püschel was conscripted into the Wehrmacht during World War II, held as a prisoner of war by the Soviet Union, and returned home weighing only 40 kg (88 lb)?
... that a 2019 Iranian drama tells the true story of Abdolhamid Rigi, a member of the Jundallah terrorist group who killed his wife on the orders of his brother?
... that according to Buddhist texts, Sumedha decided to become the Buddha while lying in the mud in front of his teacher?
... that Aleksandr Bibikov commanded his forces at the Battle of Berezina from a sleigh?
... that bailiffs who heard champion bubblegum-blower Susan Montgomery Williams popping gum in a courthouse hallway thought a .38 caliber pistol had been discharged?

In the news

Joko Widodo

Joko Widodo (pictured) is re-elected President of Indonesia, and his party, PDI-P, wins the largest share of legislative votes.
The Netherlands, represented by Duncan Laurence with the song "Arcade", wins the Eurovision Song Contest.
The Ibiza affair, a political scandal, causes the collapse of the Austrian government and triggers a snap election.
The Liberal–National Coalition, led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, wins the most seats in the Australian federal election.
Taiwan becomes the first state in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage.

On this day

May 22

Earthquake damage in Valdivia

1629 – Albrecht von Wallenstein and King Christian IV of Denmark signed the Treaty of Lübeck to end Danish intervention in the Thirty Years' War.
1816 – A riot broke out in Littleport, Cambridgeshire, England, over high unemployment and rising grain costs, spreading to Ely the next day.
1960 – An earthquake measuring ~9.5 M_W – the strongest ever recorded – devastated Valdivia, Chile (damage pictured), and generated destructive tsunamis that reached Hawaii and Japan.
1980 – Pac-Man, an arcade game that became an icon of 1980s popular culture, made its debut in Japan.
2002 – Washington, D.C., police announced that the skeletal remains of Federal Bureau of Prisons intern Chandra Levy, who had been missing for a year, were found in Rock Creek Park.

John Forest (d. 1538) · Rita Cetina Gutiérrez (b. 1846) · Laurence Olivier (b. 1907)

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Today's featured picture

Uppsala Cathedral is a cathedral in central Uppsala, belonging to the Church of Sweden, the Lutheran national church. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Uppsala, the primate of Sweden, currently Antje Jackelén. The cathedral dates to the late 13th century and was designed in the French Gothic style. With a height of 118.7 metres (389 ft), it is the tallest church in the Nordic countries. Originally built under Roman Catholicism, it was used for the coronations of Swedish monarchs for a lengthy period following the Protestant Reformation. Some of its chapels were converted to house the tombs of monarchs, including Gustav Vasa and John III. Carl Linnaeus, Olaus Rudbeck, Emanuel Swedenborg and several archbishops are also buried there.

This picture shows the cathedral from the rear, undergoing restoration by architect Helgo Zettervall in 1889. It was taken by Emma Schenson, an early female professional photographer in Sweden. The photograph is in the collection of the Uppsala University Library.

Photograph credit: Emma Schenson; restored by Adam Cuerden

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